Galub Jamun (गुलाब जामुन) Indian Milk Sweet Recipe

Three years ago, I ventured into a Diwali festival on my college campus. I entered the main tent, and my nose was immediately filled with many delicious, but unfamiliar smells. My pallet wasn’t equipped for what I was about to endure. I quickly ventured over to what seemed to be the dessert table, and a Professor of mine scooped up these little dough balls soaked in some sort of syrup. She asked me to try one, and as I tried it, the dessert overflowed my mouth with an amount of deliciousness I had never experienced. I devoured many other things that day that I will never remember! 

Fast forward three years, and I started fooling around in the kitchen. Gathering my knowledge and experience, I was on a hunt for this dessert but had no idea where to start. Thankfully one day I happened to tune into the great British baking show, and found the name of this decentacy. I looked up a recipe and went at it!! There are a few differences in this recipe verses the traditional because access to these ingredients are impossible to find in rural Tallahassee. 

Out of all the difficult things to find in this recipe, I was actually able to find saffron at Publix. It’s sold in a little container for around $6.  Every ingredient in this recipe can be found at Publix and most of them are at Walmart for a bit cheaper. Please enjoy this recipe! 

Recipe Galub Jamu

Ingredients:

Dough: 

2 cups Milk Powder
3/4 cup all purpose flour 

1 tablespoon baking powder 1

 tablespoon lemon juice or yogurt 

1 tablespoon oil or melted Ghee 

~ 7 tablespoons milk 
Syrup: 3 cup sugar 5 cups water 10 saffron threads Pinch of Cinnamon & Nutmeg (or a pinch of cardamom but this is hard to get in the USA 

Oil of choice to fry with

Syrup:

3 cup sugar

5 cup water

10 saffron threads

A pinch of cinnamon and nutmeg ( this is to replace cardamom because it is less available in the US but feel free to use either)

Directions

 1. Sift together the flour, milk powder, and baking powder into a bowl. 

2. Add lemon juice with oil and add to dry ingredients with half of the milk. 

3. Knead mixture until smooth and homogeneous. Gradually add the rest of the milk one tablespoon at a time until dough is combined and not sticky. More or less milk might need to be added depending on the humidity of your kitchen.   

4. Roll out dough into 1.5in balls and roll until ball has no cracks and is completely smooth.

5. Prepare syrup by combining ingredients in a separate pot and boil until shiny and thicker. 

6. Set oil low to med heat and deep fry dough balls for 1-2mins or until golden brown. 

7. Pat balls with paper towels to remove excess oil and set in syrup for 2 or more hours. 

Enjoy!